ENGLISH SPEAKERS’ CIRCLE
International club for cultural and social activities
for speakers of English
Please note that the international clubs are no longer part of the VHS and cannot use the 2nd floor rooms in Mecumstraße 10. Please pay careful attention, therefore, to the venues and start times of our next events and check again before your visit.
Here are the club events that are scheduled for spring 2026. We look forward to seeing you at our meetings.
We cannot accept card payments – cash only.
Join Shelley Steinhorst and Jadwiga Bobrowska as they navigate the wonderful world of Barbara Pym, “one of the most underrated novelists of the 20th century”
This gracious, fish-catching bird of prey is seen in all continents except the Antarctic. It was hunted to extinction in Britain, but started to re-appear in the mid-20th century, and received much human encouragement. Susan Jones followed the enthusiastic support of its re-appearance in Wales.
In the summer of 2025, Andy Ganner and his trusty bicycle flew to the UK colony of Gibraltar and decided to do the Altlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Just north of Porto he discovered the Camino de Santiago, and on a whim, decided not only to follow it to Compostela, but also eastwards to France and beyond …
Join him on a slideshow of dramatic coastlines, ancient pilgrim trails, and lost wild-west movie locations. You won't believe where an old €75 bicycle can take you.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel “The Great Gatsby” was published 100 years ago. Although not an immediate success, it became one of America's favourite books about the American Dream and the Jazz Age after it was distributed to US soldiers during the second World War.
A certain Jay Gatsby turns up in New York's high society in the 1920s. No one knows the truth about his past or the source of his huge wealth. He holds legendary parties at his Long Island estate, parties to which New York’s elite is keen to be invited. But it’s all to impress his long-lost lover, Daisy …
As children, we make sense of the world with openness and wonder … qualities that often fade as we grow older. Jenna Davis’s children’s book series “Life in Germany for Kids” aims to recapture that point of view, following two siblings as they adjust to life in a new country.
This talk explores the deeper themes behind the series: How storytelling can support integration, the importance of preserving cultural identity, and the ways children’s experiences mirror our own lifelong search for connection. A gentle, engaging look at modern Germany through a child’s lens.
Poems crop up in all areas of the English-speaking world: in David Baldacci and Lee Child thrillers, in films and TV series, in journals and newspaper articles, Cardiff docks and even in the 2012 Olympic Village in London.
Martina R. Jones will present some of the UK's popular poems as voted for in a survey carried out by BBC Radio 4 in 1999. A bit of background information, an explanation of some of the vocabulary and then a reading by a famous actor or two, thanks to YouTube. And as a bonus, she'll present her favourite poem in both the German and English language.
Do you have one in your street? Has it been there too long?